Rescue teams are searching the waters of Southeast Alaska for two passengers who are missing after a pair of sightseeing planes crashed in midair, killing at least four people and injuring 10 others.
The two missing people, an Australian and a Canadian, were among 14 passengers from a Princess Cruises ship who boarded two seaplanes operated by separate tour companies in the town of Ketchikan.
Ten people survived but were injured in the collision, which took place over open water on Monday at about 1pm.
At least four, including one of the pilots, were killed.
Dive teams plunged into the icy cold waters of a southeast Alaska inlet Tuesday, searching an area the size of 24 football fields for two cruise ship passengers missing after two sightseeing planes collided.
Both of the plane were flying passengers from Princess Cruises on sightseeing flights through the nature reserves south of Ketchikan, Alaska. The flights were sightseeing tours arranged by Princess cruises for its passengers.
Ten passengers and a pilot were aboard one float plane, a de Havilland Otter DHC-3, operated by Taquan Air.
Four passengers and a pilot were aboard the second float plane, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, run by Mountain Air Service of Ketchikan.
An NTSB “go team” was dispatched to Ketchikan to start investigating the cause of the accident. The go team is expected to arrive Tuesday evening in Ketchikan.
Princess Cruises in an official statement said the following: “We are deeply saddened to report this news and our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their lives and the families impacted by today’s accident,”
Taquan Air issued a statement on the accident:
“We are devastated by today’s incident and our hearts go out to our passengers and their families.”
Taquan Air has suspended all scheduled flights and is cooperating fully with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other authorities to examine every aspect of this event.